Hopefully others can use this thread to clarify questions arising in this adventure. If you happen to see another thread, please link post a link in this one to try and keep things tied together.
Chapter 1: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Chapter 2: Racing to Ruin
Chapter 3: The City of Seven Spears
Chapter 4: Vaults of Madness
Chapter 5: The Thousand Fangs Below
Chapter 6: Sanctum of the Serpent God
Oops! Wrong title?
Oops! Wrong title?
Doh! Yeah, a little cut & paste error...
Oops! Wrong title?Doh! Yeah, a little cut & paste error...
I've fixed the thread title and the adventure listing in the first post.
I've fixed the thread title and the adventure listing in the first post.Oops! Wrong title?Doh! Yeah, a little cut & paste error...
SERPENT'S SKULL ADVENTURE PATH (GM REFERENCE)
Now it has no name?
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Fixed. (AKA: "Sanctum of the Serpent God" is the name of the last adventure... unexpected spoiler time!)
Nice!
Good thing you guys are on top of this, I totally missed it ; )
Uh, Looking at the PDF, why are all the maps so huge? We don't really have the map space for such shenanigans when we get there, likely going to have to improvise a great deal.
They are very big indeed.
I would have serious problems managing them at the game table, with multiple sheets of 1-inch-squares-paper necessary for each one.
Try using gaming paper for those big maps. You can get a lot of mileage from just one roll. It's relatively cheap too.
Yes, but one map needs multiple sheets of gaming paper, more than fit on a normal-sized table, so if the PCs decide to split the party or even to run back, the sheet shuffling begins.
The huge-sized rooms fit well to the epic events and fights in this adventure, but each map as a whole is still too big in my opinion.
Of course, if you are using an Online Desktop like MapTool, this is no problem.
Yes, but one map needs multiple sheets of gaming paper, more than fit on a normal-sized table, so if the PCs decide to split the party or even to run back, the sheet shuffling begins.
The huge-sized rooms fit well to the epic events and fights in this adventure, but each map as a whole is still too big in my opinion.
Of course, if you are using an Online Desktop like MapTool, this is no problem.
Definitely agree.
While there are some people who fight on blank maps, know that there are people who spend about two hours every week drawing interesting and detailed maps for their game. I want to elicit the read-aloud text without reading it aloud.
I think I have it though-- need to cut out construction paper walls. Then I can just arrange each room on the map with movable parts. Definitely easier than drawing every one, but a lot less detailed with no spirit in the rooms.
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The Stat Block for the magic sword Eroeme p. 23 is a little wonky.
As far as I can tell...
...Rob used the stat-block for a minor artifact to present Eroeme, much like the intelligent blade Ovinrbaane in my Kingmaker "Blood for Blood" adventure. But, there's also a stat-block for Serithtial in Greg Vaughan's "Skeletons of Scarwall" in the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, which uses a slightly different format, as well. In that one, the "Construction" section uses "Statistics" instead. And you don't really present "Construction Requirements" for an artifact, anyway. I think Eroeme kind of straddles the line between powerful magic item and artifact, though. So, it's no biggie either way.
Regardless, the inclusion of Eroeme wasn't originally my idea. I had intended for the PCs to venture into the Hunter's Maze for an entirely different reason than retrieving an ancient weapon from Savith's time...i.e., one of the tribes of Saventh-Yhi suffered an attack where the urdefhans abducted the chieftain's daughter--whereupon he blamed the PCs for it, because of all the trouble they were stirring up by venturing underground into what the tribesmen considered their version of "hell." This chieftain refused to commit his tribe to their army until they brought her back (much like they'd done by rescuing Eando Kline).
This then served as the catalyst for the first dungeon crawl of the adventure...i.e., venturing into the urdefhan lair. And, General Aveshai just happened to be a potential ally they could stumble across who would have intimate knowledge of Savith's legend, seeing as how he lived it alongside her until he found a Coil of Ydersius in their midst. This encounter would also then foreshadow the eventual assassination attempts on the PCs when modern-day Coils of Ydersius infiltrate their army in Saventh-Yhi.
But things often get changed or tweaked in development. And, because of some of the tribal developments and what-not in the preceding adventures, I think Rob needed to develop a different reason for going. And, the existence of Eroeme can then serve as a mostly unkillable ally with the information and power they'll likely need when facing Ydersius.
So, anyway, probably more information than anyone required, but that's kind of how Eroeme became a part of the adventure. And, also a bit of explanation on the differences in stat-blocking intelligent magic items and minor artifacts.
Hope that helps,
--Neil
Spoiler:I had intended for the PCs to venture into the Hunter's Maze for an entirely different reason than retrieving an ancient weapon from Savith's time...i.e., one of the tribes of Saventh-Yhi suffered an attack where the urdefhans abducted the chieftain's daughter--whereupon he blamed the PCs for it, because of all the trouble they were stirring up by venturing underground into what the tribesmen considered their version of "hell." This chieftain refused to commit his tribe to their army until they brought her back (much like they'd done by rescuing Eando Kline).
Thank you, Neil, for a most excellent idea for a side quest!
Edit: Added spoiler tag.
Vyr-Azul, High Priest of Ydersius p. has a Spell-Like Abilities section but no abilities under neath it.
Should anything be there or is the entire thing a mistake?thanks
He probably should have all the abilities a serpentfolk of his level has as mentioned in the bestiary 2 and into the darklands.
I went back and checked the original turnover vs. the published product. Rob had to convert my "Spell-Like Abilities" section into the "Serpentfolk Spell-Like Abilities"...but he (or an editor) probably just missed taking out the "Spell-Like Abilities" header. It's an uncessary line of detail in the stat-block since his serpentfolk and domain spell-like abilities are already covered. Vyr-Azul has no additonal spell-like abilities beyond those.
My original turnover for Valglaunt had him as an urdefhan cleric of Trelmarixian 13 rather than a ranger. So, I can't really speak to that one. It's something that got changed up in development, probably because they wanted something different than two high-priest BBEG villains at the end of each dungeon crawl.
Valglaunt p. 24 too many favored enemies
you list 3 favored enemies but there are only 12 ranger levels, I think you went off of total HD 15 instead of ranger levels.
it should be 2 favored enemies.
thanks to Drakir2010 for pointing this out.
A ranger at lvl 12 has three favored enemies. They get the 3rd at lvl 10.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/ranger.html#favored-enemyEDIT: But the numbers are wrong. He should have a total of +10 (+6 base, +4 bonus at lvl 5 and 10), and he has +12. I would say human should be +2.
What is the CR of the last boss?
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The Stat Block for the magic sword Eroeme p. 23 is a little wonky.
What is called the Construction section should really be the Statistics. And the real Construction section, which should follow Description, is completely missing.
Should be something like
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor; Cost 90,175 gpNot sure if Languages should be its own separate block or be combined with Communication, since telepathy and languages are combined under Languages in monster SBs.
Not many intelligent magic item stated out by Paizo and no stat block template for intelligent magic items either to reference back to.
Maybe like Communication Aklo, Azlanti; telepathy?minor typo, missing semi-colon between Price and weight
Because Eroeme is an intelligent item, it doesn't follow the normal magic item stat block, which has no space for all of the extra abilities an intelligent item can have. So like Neil said, it uses a modified artifact stat block to present all of the information. There's not really rules in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for creating magic items, so the construction section doesn't outline exactly what spells you need (the information for creating the +2 mithral monstrous humanoid bane greatsword is already in the Core Rulebook). So instead, we used the Construction section to detail all of the items abilities that add to its price, basically how you "construct" an intelligent item.
And even though it uses a similar stat block to an artifact, Eroeme is not actually an artifact, so there is no Destruction section.
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The Belt of the Snake King says it only give a +1 natural armor bonus but barkskin, a requirement for the item, give a +2 bonus. Is this a typo, should be +2?
Coils of Ydersius p. 26 have the new magic item Belt of the Snake King p. 28. Their AC mods list a +2 natural bonus, I can't find another magic item that would give this.
No, the belt of the snake king grants a +1 bonus to AC. The belt doesn't actually cast barkskin, it's just a construction requirement (in the same way that a ring of regeneration allows you to regenerate 1 hit point per round, rather than cast the full regenerate spell).
The extra +1 natural armor bonus is from the snakeskin power of the serpentine sorcerer bloodline.
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Valglaunt p. 24 too many favored enemies
you list 3 favored enemies but there are only 12 ranger levels, I think you went off of total HD 15 instead of ranger levels.
it should be 2 favored enemies.
thanks to Drakir2010 for pointing this out.A ranger at lvl 12 has three favored enemies. They get the 3rd at lvl 10.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/ranger.html#favored-enemyEDIT: But the numbers are wrong. He should have a total of +10 (+6 base, +4 bonus at lvl 5 and 10), and he has +12. I would say human should be +2.
jorgenporgen is correct: a 12th-level ranger does get 3 favored enemies, but the numbers are off. He should have favored enemy (monstrous humanoids +6, humans +2, chaotic outsiders +2).
jorgenporgen is correct: a 12th-level ranger does get 3 favored enemies, but the numbers are off. He should have favored enemy (monstrous humanoids +6, humans +2, chaotic outsiders +2).Valglaunt p. 24 too many favored enemies
you list 3 favored enemies but there are only 12 ranger levels, I think you went off of total HD 15 instead of ranger levels.
it should be 2 favored enemies.
thanks to Drakir2010 for pointing this out.A ranger at lvl 12 has three favored enemies. They get the 3rd at lvl 10.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/ranger.html#favored-enemyEDIT: But the numbers are wrong. He should have a total of +10 (+6 base, +4 bonus at lvl 5 and 10), and he has +12. I would say human should be +2.
NOOOO!!! 5 years of University math, and I did it wrong! My shame, it is infinite.
(Also, why humans? Wouldn't elf or something more "darklandsy" make mroe sense?)
(Also, why humans? Wouldn't elf or something more "darklandsy" make more sense?)
The original writeup for the urdefhan section had them raiding Saventh-Yhi for human prisoners which they would then sacrifice to Trelmarixian (after starving them). The native human tribe in Saventh-Yhi came to view them as "devils" that would drag their people off to "hell" (i.e., Ilmurea in the Darklands below the city). So, giving Valglaunt a favored enemy of human (among all his others) makes some sense in that regard.
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(Also, why humans? Wouldn't elf or something more "darklandsy" make more sense?)The original writeup for the urdefhan section had them raiding Saventh-Yhi for human prisoners which they would then sacrifice to Trelmarixian (after starving them). The native human tribe in Saventh-Yhi came to view them as "devils" that would drag their people off to "hell" (i.e., Ilmurea in the Darklands below the city). So, giving Valglaunt a favored enemy of human (among all his others) makes some sense in that regard.
Also, far more PCs are human than monstrous humanoids or chaotic outsiders. :)
Also, far more PCs are human than monstrous humanoids or chaotic outsiders. :)
Metagaming! This reeks of choosing stuff specifically to harm the PCs without working it into the story (like Mr. Spicer did). A low road of design, Mr. McReary, a low road indeed!
(Though I myself love seeing fav.enemy(humans), my party's frontliners are almost always humans :P)
I guess you guys hear it all the time, but I'm yet again amazed by the rapid response from developers and writers. You guys make me enjoy spending my money on Paizo products.
What is the CR of the last boss?I'm not sure why you're asking this, because the CR for every creature is given in their stat block titles. But if you don't have this volume yet, it's CR 19.
That be is the reason. My FLGS is normally slow to get things.
The original writeup for the urdefhan section had them raiding Saventh-Yhi for human prisoners which they would then sacrifice to Trelmarixian (after starving them). The native human tribe in Saventh-Yhi came to view them as "devils" that would drag their people off to "hell" (i.e., Ilmurea in the Darklands below the city).
Nice! Consider this yet another awesome nugget stolen from the Spiceman. I will be adding this interesting side-plot to our game. ;-)
Thank you, and please continue to share stuff like this!
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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For the Hollow Serpent monster in the bestiary section, how much damage does the dessication aura do? The aura stat block says 1d4, but the ability description says 1d6.
Also, under special attacks, it lists dissonant hiss, but there is no description for this ability. Was it simply dropped in development or was the description dropped in error?
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For the Hollow Serpent monster in the bestiary section, how much damage does the dessication aura do? The aura stat block says 1d4, but the ability description says 1d6.
Hmmm...looks like that one was my fault. My final turnover had it as 1d4 Charisma damage in the Aura section, but 1d6 in the descriptive text of the Special Ability section. My bad. Just a typo that made it past the editors. If anything, I'd recommend going with 1d4.
Also, under special attacks, it lists dissonant hiss, but there is no description for this ability. Was it simply dropped in development or was the description dropped in error?
Dissonant hiss was another special ability I included for the monster write-up, but I suspect the developers wanted to trim it back a bit. Here's what the ability did:
Dissonant Hiss (Su) As a free action, a hollow serpent can issue an unsettling, distracting hiss. Any creature caught within a 60-foot radius of the hollow serpent by this sonic, mind-affecting effect must succeed on a DC 24 Will save or become sickened from an intense headache lasting for up to 1 hour. In addition, the dissonant nature of the hiss imposes a cumulative –5 penalty on concentration checks and any Perform skill checks that rely on audible components. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Not a very winning ability in the grand scheme of things. It was just meant to create a lasting distraction for spellcasters and bardic performances. No biggie to see this one go.
Characters should be 15th level when they begin
“Sanctum of the Serpent God.” By the time they lead
their rag-tag army against Ilmurea, they should be
well into 16th level. Finally, after winning their way
through Vyr-Azul’s sanctum, they should attain 17th
level before a colossal showdown with the avatar of
the restored snake-god Ydersius. “Sanctum of the
Serpent God” uses the medium XP track.
how im i supposed to handle that?
between combat with vyr azul and ydersius there are 5 rounds of preparation. No time for leveling up. Moreso enjoying the level for spellcasters who might want to use 9th level spells.
I also cant give them a level up right before vyr azul. they will be rushing through the enemys base during a war. i cant tell them to "leave your armies behind and get some r&r to level up"
so when and where is this supposed to take place?
** spoiler omitted **
how im i supposed to handle that?
between combat with vyr azul and ydersius there are 5 rounds of preparation. No time for leveling up. Moreso enjoying the level for spellcasters who might want to use 9th level spells.
I also cant give them a level up right before vyr azul. they will be rushing through the enemys base during a war. i cant tell them to "leave your armies behind and get some r&r to level up"
so when and where is this supposed to take place?
First of all, you're not supposed to be able to do the entire Sanctum in one go. It's a big place full of pretty badass enemies, I think one or two rests are in order.
On p.33 in the adventure, it says:
"At the same time, the players should realize that they
probably will not be able to clear out the Sanctum of
Ydersius in one go, even if their army pulls away some of
the temple’s defenders. The battle for Ilmurea should take
a few days, giving the PCs time to retreat and recuperate
between forays into the sanctum."
This is how I'm planning on handling it: My players usually burn through every last power, consumable or spell before quitting a dungeon, but I'm pretty sure they will be spent after the second fight with one of the "big guys" in the dungeon (Emperor of Scales, the transmuters, the marilith, etc). I'll give them a level up then (we don't play with xp rewards as we prefer following the adventure's "projected progression"), probably leading to a rest outside the dungeon. Afterwards, it'll be full steam ahead to Ydersius. If not, I'll just say "ok, you get whatever powers you were supposed to get this lvl, carry on" since it's just spells/day for the sorcerer and druid, and I don't think it's a gamebreaker to say that they "feel reinvigorated" and gain their slots. In the end, the adventure is designed with a rest in the middle of the dungeon and Mr Y is a tough customer, giving the PCs a "free rest" probably won't give tham a unfair advantage.
Hope that helps a little bit.
thank you. must have missed that passage or forgot it.
my first time beeing GM. Still have to get used to some of that stuff. thank you
my first time beeing GM. Still have to get used to some of that stuff. thank you
Whoah, then lvl 11+ can be a bit tricky. LOTS of stuff to prepare for since monsters and PCs have a lot of abilities. You should especially use time to plan out spellcaster encounters. It can sometimes be tricky keeping in mind all kinds of effects, contingencies and the like. And your PCs are bound to find uses for badly worded spells which will drive you mad ;)
Good Luck!
So, mentioned this in another thread (in which, of course, I talk way too much), but...
What is Savith's weapon?
Okay, okay, I'm aware that it's kind of spelled out for us, what with the whole sentient greatsword "Eroeme" and all, except the greatsword that Avashnei is wielding looks NOTHING like the weapon(s) Savith is depicted as wielding/equipped with. Even presuming the weapon "sizes" for the user... Savith ain't wielding a greatsword. At all. Realistically, she might be wielding a falchion. Or perhaps an exotically shaped bastard sword. Except the problem with both of those is that it's very clearly one handed. I mean, it's not even hand-and-a-half. She couldn't fit her other hand on that handle if she was a gnome.
A bastard sword is supposed to be wielded one-handed... but it's got the capability to be a two-handed weapon. This clearly doesn't. It could be a longsword, or an especially heavy scimitar.
But anyway. My question is thus: is Eroeme supposed to be a copy in the sense that it's powers/personality/traits were a lesser copy, or it was an exact physical replica with unique (or similar, but lesser) powers/personality/traits?
So, basically: is Eroeme a physical copy with lesser versions of the abilities or a "spiritual" copy with lesser versions of the abilities and sentience, but specced for the cyclops chief Avashnei.
Also: anyone have the names of Savith's companions (other than Avashnei)?
Thanks in advance!
So, basically: is Eroeme a physical copy with lesser versions of the abilities or a "spiritual" copy with lesser versions of the abilities and sentience, but specced for the cyclops chief Avashnei.
I can't help you there, TL. Eroeme post-development addition to the adventure. I didn't have that in my original turnover, so I designed nothing around it. Rob McCreary might have some thoughts for you, but I doubt even he had anything further in mind with tying it back to the art orders for how Savith's blade got depicted vs. the one forged for Aveshai. That shouldn't be a big deal, though. Decide what you want it to be for your campaign and let it go at that.
Also: anyone have the names of Savith's companions (other than Avashnei)?
Nope. They played no role in the adventure other than mentioning their existence in Savith's backstory. Again, you should have free rein to invent whatever names you wish...
My two cents,
--Neil
Good to know stuff
--Neil
THANK you!
THANK you!Good to know stuff
--Neil
What I wanted to say before, but didn't have time was: thank you for the rapid, informative feedback, and I appreciate the candid insights into the development process! So very cool!
Also, I'm basically doing exactly as you suggest with Savith's weapon, however usually I get to stick with the art for these things, and I think Paizo usually tries to as well, so I'd love some justification for my players later (I like to show them the books when we're done to see the differences in the original and how it played out, and get feedback - also for fun discussions). So, yeah, it's actually been integrated into the game already, I was just curious what the "official" word was.
Now, to keep en eye out for someone else...
>.>
<.<
>.< (here's looking at you, Rob!)
Okay, so, probably barking up the wrong tree (as in not likely to get answers) buuuuuuuuuuuuuut:
Eando's "mysterious ioun stone". What is it, what does it do, and what makes it so mysterious?
Is it really supposed to be GM fiat, or does this have some link to Second Darkness?
Question: Why should the Urdefhans in the Hunter's Maze fight?
my group etablished a social contact to Izon and he lets them pass, as it just furthers his Plan.
1/3 of the 6th book is the Hunters Maze Dungeon Crawl. But Why should they fight.
Following the story, the PC will just tell them
"well we're on your side. you can come out. let's kick some serpentfolk ass"
Valglaunt is not opposed to Izon or anything. So all i could logically do is saying
"ok. lets go. let me just gather all my summones deamons. Go get your silly weapon thingy"
This would be totally legitimate to do. But its a big part of the adventure and of the level up they are supposed to get after that.
please help